Valve cap



Sept. 18, 1934. J. c. CROWLEY VALVE CAP Filed May 14, 1932 EIL *if Il i Patented Sept. 18, 1934 UNITED STATES terrienA VALVE CAP John C. Crowley, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, as-

signor to The Dill Manufacturing Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Applica/tien May 14, 1932, serai No. 611,322k

i claim. (o1. 152-12) This invention relates to a valve cap and particularly to a valve cap that is especially suitable for use upon the valve stems of pneumatic tires.

It has been common practiceto provide caps J for the ends of the Valve stems or" pneumatic tires for the purpose of excluding dust, Water, or other foreign matter from the interior oi the Valve stems which would prove injurious to the valve insides that are arranged in the stems and would have a tendency to render such insides ineiiicient or inoperative, with a resulting leakage of air from the pneumatic tire. The ordinary form of dust cap must beY removed to permit the tires to be iniiated, or pressure readings of the same to be taken, and it frequently happens that such caps are lost as the user forgets to replace the same after inflating the tire or taking a pressure reading thereof.

The main object of theA present invention is to 20 provide a cap for use upon valve stems, such as the standard valve stem of a pneumatic tire, which will efliciently exclude dirt, moisture and other foreign substances from the interior of the valve stem, but which does not have to be removed from the valve stem to permit the inflation or deflation of the tire, or the taking of a pressure reading thereof.

Another object is to provide a cap of the character specified in the rst mentioned object which is of simple and economic construction.

Additional and further objects of the invention will become apparent hereinafter during the following detailed explanation of an embodiment thereof, such embodiment being illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein,

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional View through the cap, a portion of the valve stem with which the cap is to be used being illustrated in said figure in dotted lines, and the valve within the cap being in the seated or closed position;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. l, but illustrating the valve Within the cap as having been moved to the open position;

Fig. 3 is a top plan View of the valve cap i1lustrated in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on line 4-4 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows. Y

The valve cap comprises an outer shell member lO provided at one end with a reduced nipple portion l1 exteriorly threaded, as indicated at 12. The member l is provided with a bore 13 extending therethrough, the portion 13u, of said bore, that lies Within the reduced nipple 1l, being of reduced diameter, While the Opposite end of the bore is threadedfas indicated at 14. The interior diameter of the bore 13 adjacent the threaded portion 14 thereof is such that the cap may be screwed upon the externally threaded reduced nipple of the standard Valve stern, while the external diameter of the reducednipple l1 of the member 1l) substantially corresponds to the external diameter of the nipple of the standard valve stem, in order to receive thereupon the usual or conventional form of air chucks used in iniiating pneumatic tires. An inner shell member 15 is pressed into the outershell member 10 and has a reduced extension at one end projecting into the portion 13a of the bore 13, it being noted that the tapered portion 13b oi the wall of the bore 13 fits against a similarly tapered portion of the inner shell member l5.

The usual valve insides comprises a barrel to the outer end of which is swivelly connected an exteriorly threaded plug member to enable the insides to be screwed into the standard valve stem.` It is proposed to employ in the present valve cap vastandard form of valve insides in which the exteriorly threaded swivel plug is omitted. That is, the barrel only of the insides will be used in the present valve cap.

Referring to the drawing, the barrel of the valve insides is indicated at 16 and such barrel is pressed into the bore through the inner shell member l5, it being noted that said bore comprises enlarged portions la adjacent each end of the member l5 that are connected by a reduced portion 15b intermediate the ends of said member. The barrel 16 is pressed into the inner shell member 15 until the external gasket 17 on the barrel is in air sealing engagement with the wall of the portion 15a through the member 15, While that portion of the barrel, forming the valve seat for the insides and indicated at 16a, extends through the portion 15b of the bore and into the other enlarged portion 15a thereof. The usual valve pin 18 extends through the valve insides and is provided at its lower end with the valve proper 19 that is normally held seated against the Valve seat portion 16a of the barrel 16 by means of the valve spring 20 arranged on the pin 18 and abutting at one end an internal shoulder formed in the barrel 16 and at its opposite end a washer 21 secured to the valve pin. A headed button 22 is secured upon the outer end of the valve pin 18 and is of such size that the headed end thereofwill have a snug t in the opening at the outer end of the nipple portion 1l of the member 10, that is formed by an inturned annular ange 11a on the end of the nipple. When the valve 19 is seated, the head portion of the button 22, as previously explained, will be located in the opening at the end of the nipple 11 and will eiectively close said opening, it being noted that the button 22 Will project slightly beyond the end of the nipple to enable the same to be depressed when desired. A portion of a standard valve stem is indicated at 23 in Figs. 1 and 2, While the outer end of the valve pin 24 of the valve insides, arranged in the stem 23, is also indicated in said igures.

The valve cap is applied to the valve stem 23 by screwing the same upon the reduced nipple at the end of the valve stem, such nipple, of course, extending into the bore 1'3 with its external threads mating with the threads 14 of,

the bore. A suitable gasket 25 is arranged in the Valve cap, so as to becompressed between the inner end of the member 15 thereof and the outer end of the stem 23, such gasket being either of' rubber or other exible material, or, if desired, being formed of metal.

Referring to Fig. 1 it will be noted that, when the valve 19. is seated on its seat 16a, the lower end of the; Valveand of the pin 18 are not in engagement With the valve pin 24 of the insides carried by the stem 23 and that, therefore,l the valve of the insides in the stem will be seated. Itr Will also be noted that the opening at the outer end of the valve. capi` is sealed by the button 22. When'it is` desired to inflate. the tire, or to take a pressure reading thereof, the air chuck at the end of an airy li-ne or the air chuck ofv a-pressurergauge is'positioned upon the nipple f 11 othevalve capand the ybutton 22 is depressed,

asy indicated inlFig. 2.` The depression of; the button 22 in turn unseatsrthe valve 19. and causes theflatter to engage. with thevalve pin 2.4 of the valve insides in the stemV toI unseat the valve carried` by said pin. When this relationship of thefparts-ftakes place it will be clear that a continuouspassageway is i providedforL the incoming air to; pass into the pneumaticiA tire or for the air in the tire to pass to the pressure gauge as the case may be.

It Will be seen that the present construction provides a cap which adequately protects the interior` of the valve stem from dirt, moisture, or other substances and which does not have to be removed in order to inflate the tire or to take a pressure reading thereof. It will further be noted that the valve cap is of simple construction and employs as a principal part thereof a portion of the conventional valve insides that are used in the standard valve stem, wherefore, there are substantially no additional diicult parts to be manufactured in producing the valve cap other than are made' in connection with the standard valve stem and valve insides, With the exception of the members 10 and 15 Which can be manufaetured-very simply.

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described herein, it will be understood that the. same is susceptible of various modifications and adaptations within the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In avalvecap, in combination, a tubular shell member interiorly threaded adjacent one end to adapt said member to be secured to a valve stem and provided with a threaded nipple at. its op-` posite end of an external diameter substantially equal to the internal diameter ofthe interiorly threaded end, said nipple being provided at its outer end with al restricted opening, a'second tubularl shell member of less length than the iirst named member tted therein. and having a bore receiving a valve comprising a barrel having a valve seat,.a valve proper, and avalve pinl extending through said barrel to adjacent the 1'e stricted opening in said nipple, and a button on said` pin normally closing said restricted opening, saidbarrelhaving an air-tight seal Withthe'wall ofsaid bore.

JOHN C. CROWLEY. 

